Dumah (Soul Reaver 2 boss)
Soul Reaver 2 (2001) |race =Humans |class = Soul Reaver 2 'bosses' |era = Nosgoth's early history |territories = nave, Sanctuary, Sarafan Stronghold |leaders = Raziel (Sarafan), Malek |affiliation = Sarafan (Nosgoth's early history), Sarafan warrior inquisitors |temperament = Hostile to Raziel Friendly to Rahab (SR2 boss) |weapons = Pike |abilities = exceptional combat abilities; powerful and aggressive, strong defense, frequent blocking and lunges, double-team with Rahab (SR2 boss) |vulnerabilities= counters, lunges |blood = Red |soul = Yes – cannot be consumed |realm = Material Realm |appearances = }} In the final areas of ''Soul Reaver 2, shortly after retrieving the Reaver, Raziel faced the Sarafan warrior inquisitor Dumah along with comrade Rahab in combat. The battle took place in the nave of the Sanctuary Cathedral area of the Sarafan Stronghold. Role After witnessing the death of Janos Audron at the hands of the Sarafan warrior inquisitor group, Raziel pursued them as they retreated to the Sarafan Stronghold carrying with them the Heart of Darkness and Reaver blade. Infiltrating the stronghold, Raziel was able to recover the Reaver during a brief confrontation with Malek and Moebius but soon found himself channeled into combat with the inquisitors themselves - as he was initially confronted with Melchiah and Zephon in the Cloister. When Raziel reached the Sanctuary area of the Stronghold, portcullises (and other locked gates) sealed the exits and he was he was confronted by the second pair of inquisitors - Dumah and Rahab. Unlike other 'boss' battles in the series, the battles with the inquisitors had no puzzle aspect to them and were treated the same as any regular combat encounter - albeit against incredibly powerful opposition and with Raziel invincible due to the effects of the Reaver. At a distance all the inquisitors would walk slowly, while in direct combat Dumah had power, speed, health and defensive capabilities far exceeding that of ordinary enemies. Armed with a pike, Dumah was a mid-range fighter (broadly comparable to Sarafan warrior pikemen, though with an extended range due to the longer pike weapon), attacking viciously and often with a series of jabbing and sweeping strikes, frequent lunges and relentless blocking, but also being somewhat vulnerable to counters and lunges himself. Appearing together with Rahab also allowed Dumah to double-team Raziel, preventing any offensive maneuvers on his part. With Raziel's Health coil sustained by the Reaver, any damage was healed almost immediately, making the defeat of the inquisitors inevitable. Upon Dumah's death his soul was released but quickly rose away, and when both inquisitors were defeated Raziel headed into the choir and a confrontation with Turel. Notes *The battles against the warrior inquisitors in Soul Reaver 2 are arguably not true boss encounters. Unlike battles against major characters in other titles in the series, these battles were confined to a final 'rush' at the climax of the game, contained only regular combat with no puzzle element, conferred no special abilities upon completion and did not mark the end of 'levels' - apparently efforts by developers to avoid the artificial nature of levels and boss battles. The final rush arguably begins at the onset of Chapter 9: Blade of Vengeance, as after leaving Janos Audron's Retreat Raziel is confronted by increasingly difficult battles against various Demons utilizing Combat barriers (each similarly marked by a cutscene), culminating in the battles with the inquisitors. *The Sarafan Dumah is memorialized in the Chapter House of the Sarafan Stronghold in the Pre-Blood Omen era. In this depiction, Dumah is depicted with a sword instead of the pike he carries in the battle against Raziel, perhaps hinting at the versatile combat skills of the inquisitors. Dumah's mural is also significant for another reason, as it features a hostile winged demon behind him - this is almost certainly a bastardized depiction of the wraith Raziel, who murdered the inquisitors. Not many Sarafan lived to see who murdered the commanders, so they had to rely on second-hand accounts and artistic license - hence the inaccuracy of Raziel's image. Dumah at Dark Chronicle (by Marie Walter). Dumah's strange follower at the Eidos Forums (by markie), post #6 (by KainPainter) Dumah can also be observed among the inquisitors infiltrating Janos Audron's Retreat in Nosgoth's early history. *With Dumah's death, the Reaver can be seen drinking his Blood and his soul can be observed departing the body. The souls of the inquisitors, destined to become lieutenants in Kain's empire, were colored blue unlike other human souls (which were yellow) and quickly rose away, unable to be consumed by Raziel or the Reaver (hinting at later revelations about the nature of the blade). After his death, Dumah's body was taken with the other inquisitors and interred in the Tomb of the Sarafan, providing the corpses for Kain to revive as a lieutenants a millennium later, keeping them ignorant of their human lives. *Using the debug menu it is possible to skip passed the scene where Raziel gains the Reaver and battle the inquisitors unarmed without the healing effects of the Reaver, presenting a much greater gameplay challenge than the usual fight where Raziel is invincible. This allowed Raziel to enter the Spectral Realm in these locations and recover the Pikes (and swords) of the inquisitors as weapons, but did not allow Raziel to consume their souls, which were unaffected by attempts to devour them. *Dumah's Sarafan appearance contains subtle references to his later vampire form, seen in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Dumah's facial appearance and hairstyle is notably similar to those observed in his initial vampire form (seen in the opening prologue) and he wears long pauldrons and bracers reminiscent of the heavily armored appearance of the devolved Dumah; Sarafan Dumah also wears a helmet decorated with a red plume and protrusive "wing" motifs, shaped similarly to the helmet of the devolved Dumah. Perhaps reflecting the more humanoid appearance of his vampire devoultion, Dumah is one of the few inquisitors with eyes which appear human-like when their helmet is worn. Whereas some of the inquisitors' future clan symbols appear on their lower vestments, Dumah's does not - distorted shapes reminiscent of the symbol are present instead. The color of Dumah's armor is also similar to the color-coding of the clan standards in Soul Reaver, with Dumah depicted in dark blue and purple hues, despite an apparent clash with the coloring of Malek (subtly the coloring is distinct, with bluer shades used for Dumah in Soul Reaver, more maroon shades in Soul Reaver 2 and more purple shades for Malek). *The order of the encounters in Soul Reaver 2 also closely matches the order of the boss encounters (and by extension the revival and ranking order of the Vampire Council members) in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, with Dumah - likely the third created and ranked of the lieutenants (fourth-weakest), encountered fourth in each title - though here he is fought along with Rahab, Dumah's direct participation in Raziel's execution presumably related to his seniority over Rahab. This ranking is not necessarily related to human age, with Raziel acknowledged as the youngest and Turel the oldest at the time of their human deaths. Some questions about SR2 Sarafan at DCabDesign (by Lexy), post #3 (by Daniel Cabuco) Appearances * Soul Reaver 2 See also *Rahab (SR2 boss) *Sanctuary (Sarafan Stronghold) *Sarafan warrior inquisitors *Dumah *Dumah (SR1 boss) References }} Category:Bosses Category:Soul Reaver 2 Category:Soul Reaver 2 bosses